When you have a family, safety suddenly becomes a huge issue in your life. It might be easy for single adults to stay safe using a bit of common sense, but having kids, pets and an entire house makes being safe a lot more difficult, and also a lot more important.

One area that families often overlook when making their house safer is the garage door. Keep in mind that your garage door is a heavy, independently moving object that has sharp corners and serves as an entry into your property. In other words, it is a potentially dangerous object for you and your family. To give you peace of mind and increase your family’s safety, here are a few garage door safety tips from your residential garage door service in McDonough, GA:

Talk to your kids: When you talk to your young children about home safety, remember to include the garage door in the discussion. Remind them that the garage door remote is not a toy, and tell them that the garage is off limits unless they are with an adult. You should also emphatically express the importance of not putting their fingers inside any cracks in your garage door.

Use your manual: When you have a new garage door installed, remember to hold on to the manual, and consult it for any specific safety tips that you can pass along to your family. It is also helpful to have your garage door’s emergency release feature figured out before you might need to use it.

Monthly inspections: You ought to be having a professional come out for routine garage door maintenance to ensure that it stays in proper working order. But to stay on top of any safety problems, inspect all springs, cables and other components for signs of wear.

Close or open fully: Never leave a garage door half open, as it can be a strain on the gears and could result in it slamming down unexpectedly. If you need to constantly be going in and out of your garage door, you might want to leave it open. Otherwise, keep it shut completely.

Unplug on vacation: If you are going on a long trip and are not hiring a house sitter, you will want to minimize the risk of any mishaps or intruders coming in through your garage. That means unplugging the garage door opener, or putting a vacation lock code on it. That way, even if the remote falls into the wrong hands, it won’t be able to open your door.

Use a key chain remote: Finally, it is inadvisable to ever leave your garage door remote in your car, as someone can easily break in and have access to your home. An easy way to keep this from happening is to keep your remote on your keychain.

If you would like to learn more about garage door safety tips and options, or if you need residential garage door service in McDonough, GA, please give Affordable Dock & Door a call anytime.